The Sky's the Limit - Marco Palmieri [6]
It was ridiculous, if you actually thought about it, to assume that such a quick tour of a handful of spots on the ship would suffice to provide an adequate impression of the entire construct. There simply was too much to see in a short time; thus Patterson had picked, naturally in coordination with Thomas (“the brain behind it all,” as people were fond of saying), a handful of presumably interesting locations that would satisfy the curiosity of those Very Important Persons chosen to be part of the tour.
“Splendid day today,” Quinn said, and Thomas had no idea whether his sentiment was genuine or not. Perhaps he was just being a bit too cynical, and Quinn really meant what he said.
“I’m glad you think so,” Thomas said. “What is your impression of the ship in general?”
“Well, I’m not entirely new to the class, so I knew a little bit about it before. Still, the Enterprise is impressive, and there’s a good chance she’ll live up to her name. In fact, I might even have something for her to do already. We should soon have the opportunity to explore a great unknown galactic mass, and what better ship than the Enterprise to do that?”
“I have to agree. With a thousand people on board, most of them specialists in their field, this is a veritable warp-capable think tank.”
“Absolutely! And you seem to me the perfect man to lead them out into the unknown, as cliched as that phrase may be.”
“Ah, well…I wouldn’t know about that,” Thomas said, even though he did.
“Nonsense! You’ve seen this ship through every stage of its construction—no one knows it as well as you do. Every advantage it offers is one you know how to make use of.”
“Gentlemen,” Magodin interrupted, “how many stops are there left on our tour?”
Maybe he was mistaken, but Thomas thought he heard something in the secretary’s voice—not exactly boredom but something very similar. A wish to end this and return home, maybe, or a need to get back to work, do something else. Luckily for her, they wouldn’t take much longer.
After their visit to engineering, there would be only one more stop, the stellar cartography lab. Thomas had wanted to take the tour group to the cetacean exchange, the spot where humanoid crew members were able to interact with the ship’s aquatic-dwelling guidance and navigation experts. It was a place dear to him because he had had a hand in designing the entire facility. Patterson, however, had favored stellar cartography, since it offered people an impressive view of their interstellar surroundings and at the same time drove home the point of how insignificant everything was, despite their assumptions to the contrary—the perfect summary of the ship’s mission of exploration.
He gave Magodin the answer she wanted, and mere moments after that, they arrived at their penultimate destination. Main engineering had been a hub of activity ever since there had been people on board, and today was no different. Noncommissioned crew members were mingling with officers of various ranks, and Thomas spotted one of the two chief engineers, Sarah MacDougal, who oversaw the operation and maintenance of the ship’s systems.
Determined to let others experience a share of his joy, he guided Quinn and Magodin over to the master systems display table in the center of the room, where Sarah was ostensibly busy checking figures and values.
Thomas called her name. “May I introduce you to Admiral Gregory Quinn and Science Secretary Svaath Magodin?”
Though clearly not pleased by the interruption—and Thomas had not assumed anything other to be the case, for he knew Sarah all too well—she put down her padd and shook the hands of the two dignitaries. “Welcome aboard the Enterprise,